Monday Morning Impact – August 3

Survey: 70% of Organizations Suffer Public Cloud Security Incidents

According to The State of Cloud Security 2020, a global survey from next-generation cybersecurity leader Sophos, nearly three quarters (70%) of organizations experienced a public cloud security incident in the last year – including ransomware and other malware (50%), exposed data (29%), compromised accounts (25%), and cryptojacking (17%). Organizations running multi-cloud environments are greater than 50% more likely to suffer a cloud security incident than those running a single cloud.

Europeans suffered the lowest percentage of security incidents in the cloud, an indicator that compliance with General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) guidelines are helping to protect organizations from being compromised. India, on the other hand, fared the worst, with 93% of organizations being hit by an attack in the last year.

“The recent increase in remote working provides extra motivation to ​disable cloud infrastructure that is being relied on more than ever, so it’s worrisome that many organizations still don’t understand their responsibility in securing cloud data and workloads,” said Chester Wisniewski, principal research scientist at Sophos. “Cloud security is a shared responsibility, and organizations need to carefully manage and monitor cloud environments in order to stay one step ahead of determined attackers.”

Accidental exposure continues to plague organizations, with misconfigurations exploited in 66% of reported attacks.

One-third of respondents reported that cybercriminals gained access through stolen cloud provider account credentials. Despite this, only a quarter of organizations say managing access to cloud accounts is a top area of concern. The company also stated that 91% of accounts have overprivileged identity and access management roles, and 98% have multi-factor authentication disabled on their cloud provider accounts.

The Sophos State of Cloud Security 2020 report highlights findings of an independent survey of more than 3,500 IT managers across 26 countries in Europe, the Americas, Asia Pacific, the Middle East, and Africa that currently host data and workloads in the public cloud.

Channel Impact^®
The report cites interesting data that underscores potential opportunity for channel partners.

Lenovo Launches Cloud-Based Managed IT Services for SMBs

Lenovo has rolled out “Lenovo Managed Services,” a suite of tools built to Microsoft specifications and delivered through Lenovo’s indirect channel partners, to strengthen the SMB value proposition for Microsoft 365. Consisting of two offerings – CSP (Cloud Solution Provider) Managed Services and Endpoint Managed Services – this new suite is intended to cover the landscape of cloud-based managed services.

Each solution under the Lenovo Managed Services umbrella offers varying levels of support from which SMBs can choose according to their needs and pay for conveniently through one monthly bill.

The base offer, CSP Managed Services, is designed to help companies manage their Microsoft 365 tools by removing the maintenance and support tasks from their IT staff. Lenovo manages all Microsoft 365 accounts on a company’s license, onboarding and migrating them to the cloud and configuring application settings across Microsoft Outlook and Teams. CSP Managed Services customers will also have access to 24/7 issue resolution support in their local language.

Endpoint Managed Services is a more advanced offering that includes all of the features within CSP Managed Services, and also provides enhanced security and support benefits to reduce downtime and help to limit security risks. Customers who opt for this level of service will receive automatic device enrollment into Lenovo’s endpoint and security management service, threat protection and asset management, as well as access to Lenovo’s proprietary Endpoint 360° Dashboard. This console gives SMBs a full view into the status of their device fleet, including policy compliance updates, security notifications, productivity and security scores and real-time status of service-requests. Endpoint Managed Services customers will also receive access to Lenovo’s advanced, VIP break-fix support services, Premier Support and Premium Care, as well as its Accidental Damage Protection service for new Lenovo PCs

“SMBs may not have the time, resources or budget they need to be able to effectively manage [Office 365],” said Jie Yu, Vice President & General Manager of Global IDG Services at Lenovo. “Lenovo Managed Services offers a solution that does the heavy lifting for them so they can affordably maximize the potential of their Microsoft 365 platform and ultimately do more with less.”

Channel Impact^®
The initiative is designed to help businesses increase their productivity, save time by enabling more secure and seamless collaboration, and help defend against business-critical security events.

NetApp Updates Partner Program with Promise of Higher Margins

NetApp has announced new updates to its Unified Partner Program as part of an effort to further enable digital transformation for customers, accelerate partner profitability, and provide partners with a predictable business environment.

Under the plan, the Sunnyvale, California-based company will unify contracts and agreements; streamline guides and policies; offer fewer, more focused, deal-based incentive programs; and offer growth attainment rebate programs.

“Customers need partners who are subject matter experts and can help them successfully design and implement their digital transformation projects,” said Chris Lamborn, head of Global Partner GTM & Programs at NetApp. “That’s why in the coming fiscal year, we will recognize partners based on their demonstrated ability to sell, implement, and support NetApp based solutions in areas that accelerate a successful digital transformation journey in a hybrid multicloud world.”

NetApp also plans to provide Registered Partners with access to more information, communications, enablement, and training. The updates will include bringing Cloud First Partners into the NetApp Unified Partner Program and expanding training programs for cloud partners and service providers. NetApp also intends to expand and update its specializations with new content and benefits, including the addition of SAP and XaaS (“anything as a service”).

The program includes a bigger payout in its New Account Incentive Program and will also allow rebates to be paid more quickly.

Channel Impact^®
The updated program is designed to help partners build a NetApp focused services practice, to expand margin opportunity, and to offer the best return on their partnership. In so doing, simplicity is often a key criterion.